BRCGS Agents & Brokers consultancy
Certified for food you never touch.
We get importers, exporters, traders, agents and brokers ready for the BRCGS Global Standard for Agents and Brokers. The system is built around the suppliers, hauliers and customers you already work with, so it runs from your office without slowing down trade.
- For
- Importers, exporters, traders, agents and brokers
- What gets audited
- Your office systems and supplier controls
- Our BRCGS clients' grades
- Every one achieved AA or A
Who needs BRCGS Agents & Brokers?
BRCGS Food Safety is for sites that make, pack or process food. Agents & Brokers is for businesses that buy, sell or arrange the trade of food without handling it. Retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers increasingly ask their suppliers for it.
Importers and traders. You buy from manufacturers and packers, often overseas, and sell to UK manufacturers, wholesalers or retailers. The goods go straight from your supplier, or through a third-party store, to your customer.
Agents and brokers. You arrange sales between a supplier and a buyer and may never take ownership of the goods. Your customer still needs proof that you have chosen and controlled your suppliers properly.
Do you store, pack or relabel product yourself? Then you may also need BRCGS Food Safety or a storage and distribution certificate. We will tell you which scope fits on the first call.
What the standard covers, and what we build
We work to the current issue of the standard (Issue 3) and the way certification body auditors interpret it.
Management and food safety
- Senior management commitment
- Food safety and quality policy, objectives, management review and a food safety culture you can show an auditor.
- Food safety plan
- A HACCP-based hazard analysis for every product group you trade, covering hazards from origin, processing, packing and transport.
- Document control and records
- A simple quality manual and record system that a small office team can keep up to date.
- Internal audits
- A risk-based audit programme and the training for someone on your team to carry it out.
Suppliers and products
- Supplier approval
- Risk-based approval of manufacturers, packers and stores, using GFSI certificates, audits or questionnaires, with ongoing performance monitoring.
- Specifications
- Agreed specifications for every product, covering composition, allergens, legal and customer limits, labelling and shelf life.
- Food fraud and authenticity
- Vulnerability assessments for the raw materials and origins you trade, with a testing plan to back them up.
- Product testing
- A testing schedule for pesticides, mycotoxins, contaminants or micro, and help interpreting the lab results.
Traceability and incidents
- Traceability
- Lot tracking from supplier to customer, proven with a traceability test, even though the goods never pass through your hands.
- Incidents, withdrawals and recalls
- A procedure that works with your suppliers, hauliers and customers, tested at least once a year.
- Complaints
- Recording, investigating and trending complaints with your suppliers, and closing them with corrective action.
- Transport and storage
- Controls over the hauliers and third-party stores that handle your goods.
People and audit
- Training and competence
- Training records and the knowledge your buyers and technical staff need about the products they trade.
- Gap analysis
- A clause-by-clause audit of what you have now against the standard.
- Mock audit
- A full audit a few weeks before the real one, run the way a certification body auditor would run it.
- Audit day and close-out
- Support on the day and help closing any non-conformities within the deadline.
Who we have helped
We have taken traders in dried commodities, oils and sauces through BRCGS Agents & Brokers certification, building supplier approval, specifications and traceability around their existing supply chains. Client names are kept confidential; references are available on request.
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A customer has asked for a BRCGS certificate.
We confirm whether Agents & Brokers is the right scope, then plan the work backwards from their deadline.
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Your suppliers are overseas.
We set up risk-based approval that relies on their certificates and documents, so you don't have to visit every site.
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You already have ISO 9001.
We reuse your quality system and add the food safety, fraud and traceability controls BRCGS asks for.
Questions
Something else? Ask us directly.
We never touch the product. Why do we need a certificate?
Because your customers rely on you to choose safe, legal and authentic suppliers. BRCGS Agents & Brokers is written for exactly this, and covers the controls you have over suppliers, specifications, traceability and incidents.
How long does it take to get certified?
It depends on how many suppliers and products you have and what is already in place. The gap analysis gives you a realistic date, and we plan the work around your audit booking.
Do you carry out the certification audit?
No. The audit is carried out by an independent certification body that you choose and pay directly. We get you ready for it, and we can recommend certification bodies.
Do we need to visit our suppliers?
Not always. The standard expects risk-based supplier approval. For most suppliers, a valid GFSI-recognised certificate or a completed questionnaire is enough. Higher-risk suppliers may need an audit, which we can help you arrange.
Can you look after the system after certification?
Yes. Many clients keep us on a retained basis for supplier approvals, internal audits, annual reviews and the next audit.
Need BRCGS Agents & Brokers?
Tell us what you trade and when your customer wants the certificate. The first call is free, and we will tell you plainly what it will take.